Weird is the New Normal: A Lenten Walk Through 40 Questions in Genesis-Day Fifteen
Weird is the New Normal: A Lenten Walk Through 40 Questions in Genesis
Weird – “of strange or extraordinary character.”
Normal – “conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern”
-Merriam Webster
Day Fifteen – “Whose daughter are you?” – Abraham’s servant (Gen. 24: 23)
Continuing our walk of weirdness, Abraham’s servant (probably Eliezer of Damascus – see Gen. 15: 2) takes 10 camels and all sorts of gifts (including gold bracelets and a gold nose ring…no, I’m not kidding) and heads out to get a bride for Isaac. They arrive at Nahor around evening, and stop outside the town by a well. The camels kneel down – and Eliezer doesn’t kneel, but he does pray. He prays, in Gen. 24: 12-13, that God will send a sign…a woman who will offer him a drink of water…and then offer to draw water for his camels as well. Remember…he has 10 camels!
And even before Eliezer even finishes praying, here comes a beautiful woman (Rebekah) with a water jar. She went down to the spring and filled her jar. Eliezer went over to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.” And she replied… “Drink, my lord.” After he finished his drink, the beautiful woman said, “I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have finished drinking.” (Gen. 24: 18-19)
This brings me to the question of the day: “Whose daughter are you?” I take this to mean, “Who IS this woman?” She is obviously the answer to Eliezer’s prayer. Look, I don’t recommend that we go around praying, “Lord, give me a sign…if you want me to have Krispy Kreme today, let the HOT NOW sign be lit.” Seriously, that is not our go-to posture of praying. But in this case, it is clear that Eliezer needed help, and he asked God for help (not for his own selfish gain), and God gave him the sign just like he asked for. Who is this woman? She is someone special.
Why do I think she is special? For one thing, she volunteered to draw water for Eliezer’s camels – all ten of them. I looked this up, and found that the average camel can drink 53 gallons of water in three minutes. I’m not the best in math, but that has Rebekah serving up 500 gallons or so of water in that trough for those camels. She volunteered. Remember in Day Eleven’s devotion when I talked about the importance of hospitality in the Bible? Rebekah is special because she showed amazing, radical hospitality to a stranger!
After the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer pulled out the bling. He showed the gold nose ring and the two gold bracelets to Rebekah. Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you?” Weird, I know, but this was part of the “proposal,” and God is actually at work here. We will continue the story tomorrow. Will she say, “Yes?”
Reflection: Have you ever asked God for a sign? What happened?
Action: Spend time LISTENING to God today. LOOK for ways that God is trying to speak to you.
Weird – “of strange or extraordinary character.”
Normal – “conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern”
-Merriam Webster
Day Fifteen – “Whose daughter are you?” – Abraham’s servant (Gen. 24: 23)
Continuing our walk of weirdness, Abraham’s servant (probably Eliezer of Damascus – see Gen. 15: 2) takes 10 camels and all sorts of gifts (including gold bracelets and a gold nose ring…no, I’m not kidding) and heads out to get a bride for Isaac. They arrive at Nahor around evening, and stop outside the town by a well. The camels kneel down – and Eliezer doesn’t kneel, but he does pray. He prays, in Gen. 24: 12-13, that God will send a sign…a woman who will offer him a drink of water…and then offer to draw water for his camels as well. Remember…he has 10 camels!
And even before Eliezer even finishes praying, here comes a beautiful woman (Rebekah) with a water jar. She went down to the spring and filled her jar. Eliezer went over to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.” And she replied… “Drink, my lord.” After he finished his drink, the beautiful woman said, “I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have finished drinking.” (Gen. 24: 18-19)
This brings me to the question of the day: “Whose daughter are you?” I take this to mean, “Who IS this woman?” She is obviously the answer to Eliezer’s prayer. Look, I don’t recommend that we go around praying, “Lord, give me a sign…if you want me to have Krispy Kreme today, let the HOT NOW sign be lit.” Seriously, that is not our go-to posture of praying. But in this case, it is clear that Eliezer needed help, and he asked God for help (not for his own selfish gain), and God gave him the sign just like he asked for. Who is this woman? She is someone special.
Why do I think she is special? For one thing, she volunteered to draw water for Eliezer’s camels – all ten of them. I looked this up, and found that the average camel can drink 53 gallons of water in three minutes. I’m not the best in math, but that has Rebekah serving up 500 gallons or so of water in that trough for those camels. She volunteered. Remember in Day Eleven’s devotion when I talked about the importance of hospitality in the Bible? Rebekah is special because she showed amazing, radical hospitality to a stranger!
After the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer pulled out the bling. He showed the gold nose ring and the two gold bracelets to Rebekah. Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you?” Weird, I know, but this was part of the “proposal,” and God is actually at work here. We will continue the story tomorrow. Will she say, “Yes?”
Reflection: Have you ever asked God for a sign? What happened?
Action: Spend time LISTENING to God today. LOOK for ways that God is trying to speak to you.
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